THE DOCTOR'S DEVICE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1847, 15 April 1887, Page 26

THE DOCTOR'S DEVICE.

(Licensed Victuallers Gazette.) Some years ago I was in India, and found myself quartered at what is called an " upcountry station." Certainlj there was not much to be got in the way of excitement, and there was also a woeful absence, of the fair sex ; but against these disadvantages there was a set-off in the way of sport. Very fair pig-sticking was to' be obtained within six miles of the cantonments, and the snipe and duck shooting was second to none; while, for those who did not mind camping out and roughing it, there was always a certain week's sport after black buck, with an ' occasional tiger thrown in to swell the bag. Moreover, like every other station, we had our annual races, and these were always looked forward to with great interest. Ido not for a moment pretend to say that they were of a very high-class order. The very name— viz., " Sky, or Scurry Eaces "—proclaimed their loom standi, but they were great fun, and everybody who had an animal that by any possibility could be called a horse entered it for one or the other event, and consequently from that moment considered himself "an owner " in every sense of the term. At tho time I am writing of I had gone into partnership with our assist-ant-surgeon, M'Donald by name, and was part owner of a very likely nag, which we had named Aristocrat, from a habit he had of holding his head in the air when walking. He had a very good notion of galloping and unaping, a fair turn of speed, and could stay or ever, so we fancied his chance for the open steeplechase immensely. Indeed, we considered the money almost as good as in our pockets. I was the riding partner in the firm, and so gave Aristocrat all his gallops, and, like a fool, instead of keeping my mouth shut, rather boasted of his powers, and declared myself ready to back the gee for anything within reason. As it happened, in the same station was quartered a cavalry regiment, and among the officers there was one who was by no means a favourite with us all — a veterinary surgeon who was attached to the corps, and gave himself more airs and graces than enough, affecting in his superior wisdom to despise all those unfortunates, so far as horseflesh was concerned, who could not write the mystic symbols of M.K.C.V.S. after their names. This gentleman, who was called Belton, made himself particularly obnoxious about Aristocrat, and expressed his intention of running a horse to beat him whenever and wherever our nag ran. This did not matter, ' but as he coupled his intention with disparaging remarks anent our crack, the ire of tho M'Pbnalds was aroused, and one morning he accommodated the V.S. with an even bet of £200 that we should win the first time we met any animal that Mr Belton entered ' against us. Now it so happened that there had been held a casting committee about a month before, and among other horses that were "cast" — that is, considered unfit for H.M. service— was a fine upstanding grey, who had for some years carried a trumpeter. Why the committee cast the animal no one knew, as he was known to be a wonderful fencer, and &* sound as a roach ; but cast he was, aud, somewhat to M 'Donald's" dismay, Belton became the purchaser when he was sold, and promptly' entered the horse (which, by the way, he called Trumpeter) for the open steeplechase. As soon as the sale was over M'Donald came over to me and told me all about it. " You see," he said-, " I was away at the hospital, and did not get back in time to bid ; and that infernal fellow, Belton, had got the horse. Can he beat us, think you 1 You know we have £200 on the race." " I don't quite take," I replied. ♦• You have £200" on ; I have nothing to do with that." It will be a tight thing, though.' It is the only animal I am afraid of, but I hope we shall do him." This reply rather staggered M'Donald, who insisted that our partnership embraced all bets made by either him or myself ; and after a deal of argument on both sides, during which we managed to consume more than one brandy and soda, I agreed to go halves with him, provided he did the same by me. That afternoon^Belton and I met; on the race- " course, which was the general trainingground, and he managed to rile me so much that I backed our horse for another £100 . before I. left. Time went on, and every , morning I was upland doing, superintending the Aristocrat's preparation, during which - period I had ample opportunities of watching the performances of my rival, the Trumpeter, and the more I caw of them the less I ■ jjbed it, for, although 1 had no fault to find

with my mount, I began to recognise that Trumpeter r was undoubtedly speedy, and, I • was afraidj had the legs of poor Aristocrat. However, on consulting M'Donald, he seemed perfectly happy, and said it was all right, that there was no cause for fear, that we were bound to win, and he would gnarantee wo beat Belton. No amount of persuasion would induce him to hedge a shilling, and all I could get out of him was that after the race I should sec. ' All this was no doubt very comforting, according to his view, and as he always went into fits of laughter when- . -ever I came to him with my doubts, I arrived at the conclusion that he knew something I did not, and pressed him accordingly ; but he never would go beyond the fact that " everything was as right as the mail provided our horse was well and that I stuck on." So I was forced to be content with that, and went on winding up our crack for the event. The night before the races the lottery was held— and here I may mention that in India betting was all carried on by lottery ; there might be as many as three or four lotteries on eveiy race. Everyone who took a ticket paid so much, and then the horses were drawn. Then those who had been lucky enough to, draw a horse put them up to auction, and the purchaser, whoever that might be, had to pay to the drawer the price he, had bid, and the like sum to the lottery. Thus, supposing there were 100 tickets at 10 rupees or £1 a ticket, when the lottery was filled and the draw came there was £100 in the lottery. After the draw, the horses being put up, say "A" drew a horse and jt was sold to " B " for 200 rupees or £20. The auctioneer would, when the next horse was put up, say, " £120 in the lottery. So-and-so for sale." "B" having paid £40 for his chance — that is,* £20 to "A," and £20 to the lottery, and so on till all the horses were sold, so that you never knew till the end of the lottery what odds you had got against the horse you had bought. We bought the Aristocrat for £15, and ran Belton up to £40 for the Trumpeter, and the others selling for about £70 between them, the first lottery closed for £225, which gave us the odds of 14 to 1 and the Aristocrat, while Belton, who had given £40, only got odds of a shade over 4£ to 1. This fetched him considerably, and he got nasty, and talked a good deal of what he was going to do on the morrow. However, neither M'Donald nor myself would be drawn, and after a time he left the room in a huff. When he went home and made up our accounts, we found we stood to win, with the lottery and outside bets, about£6oo between us, and to lose £400 odd — a prospect I did not personally relish much, as I was by no means flush of money, and did not quite see my way clear. But it was a case of in for a penny in for a pound, and so I tumbled into bed hoping for the best.. The next day I was up betimes and found Aristocrat looking as fit as could be, and when the saddling bell rang I was more sanguine than I had been for some time. Belton was riding himself, and looking as sulky as a bear ; he never vouchsafed me a word when we met in the weighing-room. One thing which puzzled me was M'Donald's manner, for he kept on going into fits of laughter for no apparent reason, and though I knew him to be a most abstemious man, I could not help thinking that for once he had been screwing himself up for the occasion. However, there was not much time for conjecture, for I was due at the start, and as I mounted, having dispensed with the form of a preliminary canter, I heard M'Donald say, "Go on, old man ; you will see me before the race is over,'' and away I went. The flag fell to a capital start, and the first fence we all flew in a heap. I saw Belfcon meant forcing the pace, and I waited on him as well as I could. As I expected, after the first mile or so the rest failed off, and the race was left practically, bar accidents, between Aiistocrat and Trumpeter. Neck and neck we went for" nearly threefourths of the course, when, to my dismay, I saw my opponent gradually drawing ahead, and felt that Aristocrat was doing all he knew. As we came over the last fence into straight Trumpeter was leading by a length, and I had given up the race as hopeless, when suddenly there rang out from a clump of trees on the right the cavalry call " Haiti " The old charger pulled up in his tracks as if he had been shot, nearly depositing Belton over his head, and before he could set him going again I was past the post, and the race was won ! Of course there was a deuce of a row, and Belton swore he would not pay ; but he had to, and nob for some time after did I hear about how the affair was managed. It appeared that Trumpeter's old master owed Belton a grudge for something, and having experienced some acts of kindness from M'Donald con fi led to him the fact that the ex-charger know all the calls as well as any trooper in the regiment, and they between them arranged the little orchestral accompaniment that won us the race. 1 daresay it was not what one might call strict morality, but I had nothing to do with it, and was only too glad to receive £300 ; and as M'Donald has at present sent no " conscience money " to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, I suppose he did not think that his little game was worthy of a stronger name than " The Doctor's Device."'